skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Separation of alkane and alkene mixtures by metal–organic frameworks

Journal Article · · Journal of Materials Chemistry. A
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/d1ta04096k· OSTI ID:1863574
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. Shenzhen Polytechnic, Guangdong (China)
  2. Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ (United States)
  3. Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ (United States); Shenzhen Polytechnic, Guangdong (China)

The separation of alkane/alkene gas mixtures represents an important yet challenging process in the petrochemical industry to produce valuable chemical feedstocks with sufficiently high purity. These molecules have similar physical properties, making their separation difficult and capital-intensive. The current separation and purification technology relies largely on heat-driven distillations with a huge unit composed of hundreds of trays. Adsorptive separation using porous solids is capable of accomplishing the purification under ambient conditions, offering potential energy and environmental benefits. In particular, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) hold enormous promise for this separation process in light of their highly tunable pore shape, pore size, and pore surface functionality. In this review article, we provide a comprehensive account of metal–organic frameworks that have been investigated for the separation of alkanes and alkenes with a focus on C2–C3 hydrocarbons. Here, the material design rationale, separation mechanisms, and structure–property relations are highlighted. Finally, the existing challenges and possible design strategies for desirable materials are also discussed.

Research Organization:
Wake Forest Univ., Winston-Salem, NC (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0019902
OSTI ID:
1863574
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1820201
Journal Information:
Journal of Materials Chemistry. A, Vol. 9, Issue 37; ISSN 2050-7488
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (100)

Microregulation of Pore Channels in Covalent-Organic Frameworks Used for the Selective and Efficient Separation of Ethane journal November 2020
Boosting Ethylene/Ethane Separation within Copper(I)‐Chelated Metal–Organic Frameworks through Tailor‐Made Aperture and Specific π‐Complexation journal November 2019
New 13X zeolite for propylene/propane separation by vacuum swing adsorption journal January 2013
Pore Size Reduction in Zirconium Metal–Organic Frameworks for Ethylene/Ethane Separation journal March 2019
Seven chemical separations to change the world journal April 2016
Boosting Ethane/Ethylene Separation within Isoreticular Ultramicroporous Metal–Organic Frameworks journal September 2018
Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks for Kinetic Separation of Propane and Propene journal August 2009
Room temperature synthesis of Cu(Qc)2 and its application for ethane capture from light hydrocarbons journal February 2020
Metal–Organic Framework Materials for the Separation and Purification of Light Hydrocarbons journal May 2019
Selective Binding of O 2 over N 2 in a Redox–Active Metal–Organic Framework with Open Iron(II) Coordination Sites journal September 2011
Polycatenated Molecular Cage-Based Propane Trap for Propylene Purification with Recorded Selectivity journal December 2019
Current Status of Microporous Metal–Organic Frameworks for Hydrocarbon Separations journal October 2019
Guest-dependent pressure induced gate-opening effect enables effective separation of propene and propane in a flexible MOF journal August 2018
Ethane-Selective Behavior Achieved on a Nickel-Based Metal–Organic Framework: Impact of Pore Effect and Hydrogen Bonds journal May 2019
Adsorptive Separation of Propylene and Propane on a Porous Metal-Organic Framework, Copper Trimesate journal January 2010
Selective Adsorption of Ethane over Ethylene in PCN-245: Impacts of Interpenetrated Adsorbent journal February 2018
Topology meets MOF chemistry for pore-aperture fine tuning: ftw -MOF platform for energy-efficient separations via adsorption kinetics or molecular sieving journal January 2018
Selective Aerobic Oxidation of a Metal-Organic Framework Boosts Thermodynamic and Kinetic Propylene/Propane Selectivity journal May 2019
Separation of ethane-ethylene and propane-propylene by Ag(I) doped and sulfurized microporous carbon journal June 2020
Understanding ethane/ethylene adsorption selectivity in ethane-selective microporous materials journal June 2020
Efficient Separation of Propene and Propane Using Anion-Pillared Metal–Organic Frameworks journal January 2020
Adsorption and separation of binary mixtures in a metal-organic framework Cu-BTC: A computational study journal April 2008
A Series of Mesoporous Metal‐Organic Frameworks with Tunable Windows Sizes and Exceptionally High Ethane over Ethylene Adsorption Selectivity journal September 2020
Direct Functionalization of the Open Metal Sites in Rare Earth-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks Used for the Efficient Separation of Ethylene journal March 2020
Kinetic Separation of Propene and Propane in Metal−Organic Frameworks: Controlling Diffusion Rates in Plate-Shaped Crystals via Tuning of Pore Apertures and Crystallite Aspect Ratios journal April 2011
Tuning the Structures of Metal–Organic Frameworks via a Mixed-Linker Strategy for Ethylene/Ethane Kinetic Separation journal April 2020
Role of Electrostatic Effects in the Pure Component and Binary Adsorption of Ethylene and Ethane in Cu-Tricarboxylate Metal-Organic Frameworks journal October 2007
Controlled Reducibility of a Metal-Organic Framework with Coordinatively Unsaturated Sites for Preferential Gas Sorption journal June 2010
A Robust Ethane-Trapping Metal–Organic Framework with a High Capacity for Ethylene Purification journal March 2019
Synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate framework-69 for adsorption separation of ethane and ethylene journal July 2017
Adsorption of Ethane, Ethylene, Propane, and Propylene on a Magnesium-Based Metal–Organic Framework journal November 2011
Algae-derived N-doped porous carbons with ultrahigh specific surface area for highly selective separation of light hydrocarbons journal February 2020
Moisture stability of ethane‐selective Ni(II), Fe(III), Zr(IV)‐based metal–organic frameworks journal April 2019
Synthesis and modification of moisture-stable coordination pillared-layer metal-organic framework (CPL-MOF) CPL-2 for ethylene/ethane separation journal February 2020
Efficient kinetic separation of propene and propane using two microporous metal organic frameworks journal January 2017
Kinetic separation of propylene over propane in a microporous metal-organic framework journal December 2018
M 2 ( m -dobdc) (M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) Metal–Organic Frameworks as Highly Selective, High-Capacity Adsorbents for Olefin/Paraffin Separations journal October 2017
Hydrocarbon Separations in Metal–Organic Frameworks journal September 2013
Copper and nickel doped MIL-101: Highly efficient adsorbents for separation of ethylene-ethane mixture journal July 2020
Efficient purification of ethene by an ethane-trapping metal-organic framework journal October 2015
An Ultramicroporous Metal–Organic Framework for High Sieving Separation of Propylene from Propane journal September 2020
Room-Temperature Synthesis of Pyr 1/3 @Cu–BTC with Enhanced Stability and Its Excellent Performance for Separation of Propylene/Propane journal March 2020
High Propene/Propane Selectivity in Isostructural Metal-Organic Frameworks with High Densities of Open Metal Sites journal January 2012
Adsorptive separation of C2H6/C2H4 on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with pillared-layer structures journal July 2020
A metal-organic framework-based splitter for separating propylene from propane journal July 2016
Tailor-Made Microporous Metal-Organic Frameworks for the Full Separation of Propane from Propylene Through Selective Size Exclusion journal October 2018
Molecular Sieving of Ethane from Ethylene through the Molecular Cross-Section Size Differentiation in Gallate-based Metal-Organic Frameworks journal November 2018
Separation of propylene and propane with a microporous metal–organic framework via equilibrium‐kinetic synergetic effect journal October 2020
Enhancement of Ethane Selectivity in Ethane–Ethylene Mixtures by Perfluoro Groups in Zr-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks journal July 2019
Facile loading of Cu(I) in MIL-100(Fe) through redox-active Fe(II) sites and remarkable propylene/propane separation performance journal January 2018
Introduction of π-Complexation into Porous Aromatic Framework for Highly Selective Adsorption of Ethylene over Ethane journal June 2014
Designer Metal–Organic Frameworks for Size‐Exclusion‐Based Hydrocarbon Separations: Progress and Challenges journal July 2020
Dealuminated Cs-ZK-5 zeolite for propylene/propane separation journal June 2021
Ethane/ethylene separation in a metal-organic framework with iron-peroxo sites journal October 2018
Propane-selective design of zirconium-based MOFs for propylene purification journal June 2020
Design and control of gas diffusion process in a nanoporous soft crystal journal January 2019
Hydrocarbon Separations in a Metal-Organic Framework with Open Iron(II) Coordination Sites journal March 2012
Pore-Space-Partition-Enabled Exceptional Ethane Uptake and Ethane-Selective Ethane–Ethylene Separation journal January 2020
Ethane Selective IRMOF-8 and Its Significance in Ethane–Ethylene Separation by Adsorption journal July 2014
Isoreticular Three-Dimensional Kagome Metal–Organic Frameworks with Open-Nitrogen-Donor Pillars for Selective Gas Adsorption journal April 2020
Adsorption of propane, propylene and isobutane on a metal–organic framework: Molecular simulation and experiment journal July 2009
Observation of Olefin/Paraffin Selectivity in Azo Compound and Its Application into a Metal–Organic Framework journal July 2018
Highly Adsorptive Separation of Ethane/Ethylene by An Ethane-Selective MOF MIL-142A journal March 2018
An indium-based ethane-trapping MOF for efficient selective separation of C2H6/C2H4 mixture journal April 2019
A calcium-based microporous metal-organic framework for efficient adsorption separation of light hydrocarbons journal February 2019
Control of zeolite framework flexibility and pore topology for separation of ethane and ethylene journal November 2017
A silver(i) coordinated phenanthroline-based polymer with high ethylene/ethane adsorption selectivity journal January 2014
Alkaline-earth squarates III.CaC4O4 · 2.5H2O, a novel polymer complex with zeolitic properties (1) journal March 1987
A Rod‐Packing Hydrogen‐Bonded Organic Framework with Suitable Pore Confinement for Benchmark Ethane/Ethylene Separation journal March 2021
Selective adsorption of ethylene over ethane and propylene over propane in the metal–organic frameworks M2(dobdc) (M = Mg, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn) journal January 2013
Microporous metal-organic framework with specific functional sites for efficient removal of ethane from ethane/ethylene mixtures journal May 2020
Separation of ethane and ethylene by a robust ethane-selective calcium-based metal–organic framework journal January 2020
Ethene/Ethane and Propene/Propane Separation via the Olefin and Paraffin Selective Metal–Organic Framework Adsorbents CPO-27 and ZIF-8 journal June 2013
Microporous Metal–Organic Framework with a Completely Reversed Adsorption Relationship for C 2 Hydrocarbons at Room Temperature journal January 2020
Electrostatically Mediated Specific Adsorption of Small Molecules in Metallo-Organic Frameworks journal December 2006
Ethylene/ethane separation in a stable hydrogen-bonded organic framework through a gating mechanism journal July 2021
Selective Ethane/Ethylene Separation in a Robust Microporous Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Framework journal December 2019
Selective adsorption of olefin–paraffin on diamond-like frameworks: diamondyne and PAF-302 journal January 2013
Molecular sieving of ethylene from ethane using a rigid metal–organic framework journal November 2018
Ethane selective adsorbent Ni(bdc)(ted)0.5 with high uptake and its significance in adsorption separation of ethane and ethylene journal July 2016
Modification of the pore environment in UiO-type metal-organic framework toward boosting the separation of propane/propylene journal January 2021
Gas/vapour separation using ultra-microporous metal–organic frameworks: insights into the structure/separation relationship journal January 2017
Comparing SiCHA and 4A Zeolite for Propylene/Propane Separation using a Surrogate-Based Simulation/Optimization Approach journal August 2014
Potential of microporous metal–organic frameworks for separation of hydrocarbon mixtures journal January 2016
Adsorptive Separation of Olefin/Paraffin Mixtures with ZIF-4 journal November 2015
Ethane/Ethene Separation Turned on Its Head: Selective Ethane Adsorption on the Metal−Organic Framework ZIF-7 through a Gate-Opening Mechanism journal December 2010
Effect of Ligand Functionalization on the Separation of Small Hydrocarbons and CO 2 by a Series of MUF-15 Analogues journal July 2020
Reversed ethane/ethylene adsorption in a metal–organic framework via introduction of oxygen journal February 2020
Exploiting equilibrium-kinetic synergetic effect for separation of ethylene and ethane in a microporous metal-organic framework journal April 2020
An ethane-trapping MOF PCN-250 for highly selective adsorption of ethane over ethylene journal January 2018
Bimetallic ions regulate pore size and chemistry of zeolites for selective adsorption of ethylene from ethane journal July 2020
Selective adsorption of ethane over ethylene on M(bdc)(ted)0.5 (M = Co, Cu, Ni, Zn) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) journal January 2020
Supramolecular binding and separation of hydrocarbons within a functionalized porous metal–organic framework journal December 2014
Cage-Interconnected Metal–Organic Framework with Tailored Apertures for Efficient C 2 H 6 /C 2 H 4 Separation under Humid Conditions journal November 2019
A pillar-layer metal-organic framework for efficient adsorption separation of propylene over propane journal October 2018
Effect of framework rigidity in metal-organic frameworks for adsorptive separation of ethane/ethylene journal November 2020
Silver-Decorated Hafnium Metal–Organic Framework for Ethylene/Ethane Separation journal April 2017
Synergistic sorbent separation for one-step ethylene purification from a four-component mixture journal October 2019
Immobilization of Ag( i ) into a metal–organic framework with –SO 3 H sites for highly selective olefin–paraffin separation at room temperature journal January 2015
Confinement of Ag(I) Sites within MIL-101 for Robust Ethylene/Ethane Separation journal November 2019

Similar Records

Metal–Organic Frameworks for C6 Alkane Separation
Journal Article · Thu Feb 16 00:00:00 EST 2023 · Angewandte Chemie (International Edition) · OSTI ID:1863574

Metal‐Organic Frameworks for C6 Alkane Separation
Journal Article · Mon Mar 06 00:00:00 EST 2023 · Angewandte Chemie · OSTI ID:1863574

Microporous metal–organic frameworks for the purification of propylene
Journal Article · Thu Jan 05 00:00:00 EST 2023 · Journal of Materials Chemistry. A · OSTI ID:1863574